Chapter 3 The Cost of Her Mistake

"I told you I could get the big Mr. Gallagher himself to fix my plumbing! To everyone who said I was just bragging, apologize to me!" Wendy captioned it along with several smug emojis.

The comments quickly filled with people agreeing with her.

"Gosh, she really wasn't bluffing! Even when Mr. Gallagher proposed, he didn't kneel!"

"She always makes ridiculous claims to get attention, but this time, she actually got Mr. Gallagher to get down on his knees and fix her pipes. I'm genuinely impressed."

"Wait, what about his fiancee?"

"What fiancee? She's already an ex-wife. Everyone calls her Saint Eight-Divorces. Don't you know?"

I calmly left a comment of my own. "I wish you both a long and happy life together. Stay together forever."

The post disappeared without a trace soon afterward. In its place was a wounded-looking GIF.

Nolan returned home grimly and confronted me immediately. "Can't you just drop it already, June? What are you doing, posting a comment like that?"

I silently looked at him. The wedding band he had never taken off was gone from his finger. In its place, he wore a pink hair tie around his wrist.

I knew it was Wendy's provocation. Nolan obviously knew it too. He once deliberately wore my hair tie around his wrist and showed it off everywhere. Yet this time, he had tacitly allowed Wendy to do the same.

My voice came out hoarse. "Nolan, it's been exactly a week since our baby died."

The man froze.

Perhaps he remembered how I had looked on the operating table. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to be completely heartless. "I had a candle lit for him."

I wiped away my tears. I was about to ask him where our baby's grave was when a dog's bark interrupted me.

"No barking, Andi!" Wendy scolded sweetly.

Then, she looked at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, June. The dog doesn't know any better."

Her gaze fell on the bracelet around my wrist, and she covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh, isn't that the bracelet I didn't want? Nolan said he was going to give it to someone. So it was for you, June! I only glanced at this bracelet at an auction, and Nolan immediately outbid everyone to get it for me."

I turned toward Nolan in disbelief. It turned out he'd found the bracelet long ago—he had simply given it to Wendy first.

Wendy suddenly changed the subject, proudly showing off her dog. "His name is Andi. Isn't he adorable? Nolan gave him to me, and we came up with the name together."

I stormed over and slapped her hard across the face. "My child died because of you, and you even had to take his name and give it to a dog?"

The next second, a searing pain exploded across my cheek.

I was slapped to the floor, and the bracelet shattered into pieces beside me.

Nolan didn't even spare me a glance. He only gathered Wendy into his arms and comforted her. When he finally looked at me, his face was dark with displeasure. "How can you slap Wendy over some name?"

I stared at him, laughing and crying at the same time. "Nolan, Andi was the name we chose when we first got together. Our baby could already breathe. He could already move. He was only one step away from seeing this world."

The man froze.

He was just about to get up and help me to my feet when Wendy suddenly cried out. "Nolan, I'm bleeding."

Nolan immediately scooped her up into his arms and rushed out the door. As he did, his foot came down on my lower leg, breaking it.

I stared blankly at the man's retreating back and sat there in a daze all night.

…

At first light, a message appeared on my phone.

"Junebug, what kind of wedding would you like?"

Warmth spread through my heart.

I was just about to reply when a group of people suddenly burst through the door and dragged me outside.

Nolan sat in the car, calmly adjusting his suit cuffs. "June, there was a problem with a payment. You're the CFO, so I need you to deal with it."

His voice held no trace of warmth as he continued, "Wendy accidentally withheld some funds, and someone died because of it."